Contributor Andrew Padula has been in situations throughout his life where he has felt compelled to address racial issues from his unusual perspective. Andrew is a white, politically conservative, blues musician who has been teaching and touring the U.S. and Europe since 1993. He can be seen with blues legend Bobby Parker on B.E.T. Jazz Central as well as on Carlos Santana’s recent DVD release “Montreux Blues Summit”. His point of view adds plenty to our discussion, so I welcome Andrew and his column The Topsoil to Allaboutrace.com. As Andrew says, “You gotta turn the topsoil to plant a crop!”

The Dog clan, one of America’s leading families of trailer park escapees has provided us with a wonderful opportunity to bring up a multitude topics for discussion. To anyone who is unfamiliar with famed bail bond enforcement agent Duane”Dog”Chapman, here is a short synopsis of who he is and why he is in the news.

Mr Chapman is an ex con turned bounty hunter who has(had) a reality show on the A&E network. He is best known for illegally apprehending Max Factor heir and serial rapist Andrew Luster in Mexico. The show follows his family run company as they attempt to apprehend fugitives who have defaulted on their bond obligations. One of his sons has been dating a black woman for the past 7 months and in a private phone conversation he encouraged the termination of the relationship in less than eloquent terms. In essence, he tossed “N” bombs until he ran out of toes to count them on. His hysterical, immature son had taped the conversation and sold it to a media outlet. Partial excerpts were released as “Breaking News” and were immediately aired on just about every news outlet available. The resulting backlash caused an immediate knee jerk reaction which resulted in the suspension of the “Dog’s” popular television show within hours of this revelation.

To be honest with you, the arguments and criticism surrounding his recent racist tirade are at face value so black and white (pun intended) and redundant that I just don’t have the energy for it. Besides, his clan is so uncouth, I can’t stand to watch them anyway. Although his language was inexcusable, people should assume from his demeanor and personal history that he is rough around the edges. We should expect this type of vernacular from him and his ilk. Although, I don’t fully know the circumstances of, or personalities involved, I can state with certitude that anyone not hearing the recording in its entirety would say he needs to take an evening to sit down and watch “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner.” After hearing the rant in it’s entirety and getting a little more background, I’m not so sure…

I had the good fortune of being able to hear the extended version of the tape while sitting in the company of a friend of mine who is black. He knew nothing about the incident and I was trying to get him up to speed with the story. As the tape played, we discovered that most of the information that I had gleaned from various reports earlier in the day was incorrect.

When the tape started and the “N” bombs began to drop my buddies eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped and he chortled “Ooh, No way, he said that on his show… he’s gone”. I interrupted him to say that this was a private phone conversation. He asked ” Oh, a phone call on the show right?” I said “no, this was a conversation with his son trying to convince him to break up with his Black girlfriend”. “Well how the hell did they get the tape?” he asked. When I told him his son sold it, his whole attitude started to change… which was just about the time that we got to the meat and potatoes of the tape…

From what we could tell, Mr. Chapman was concerned that a young black woman who was dating his son was in effect a mole and was attempting to obtain marketable gossip on the family. He noted the prolific politically incorrect vernacular that was prevalent in the day to day banter among family members. Mr. Chapman tried to impress upon his son his mistrust in the sincerity of his girlfriend’s affections. Mr. Chapman went out of his was to emphasize that his concerns were not racially motivated. He expressed his specific suspicions as to the nefarious intentions of her presence.

Apparently on one occasion she had gone as far as wearing a concealed microphone which was discovered by other individuals involved in the business. His son, blinded by love, expounded on the veracity of their relationship. The boy vehemently refuted the claims of his coworkers and family members and thus reiterated his faith in the bonds of love that bound him and his girlfriend together. His father issued the stern ultimatum: Terminate your relationship with the girl or relinquish your position in the family firm. The boy chose the latter and decided to effectuate his own severance package by selling an audio recording of this volatile family dispute to the National Enquirer for an alleged 15 thousand dollars.

*Note to Self: stop doing silly tongue in cheek jokes like using stilted formal language to emphasize the baseness of a trailer park rant.*

Like I said before, I see more questions arising out of this incident than you can shake a fetchin’ stick at. Let me expound upon just a handful.

Mr. Chapman is a success story that we should celebrate. He was cut from ragged cloth yet managed to traverse a degenerative destructive youth and become a productive member of society. Those of a prim and proper background are not suited to the dark world in which he dwells. For an hour every week they can live vicariously through the sanitized television episodes of his real life exploits. We are so empowered by the remote control in our hands that we personalize this individual. In our minds, we have made an ordinary and common man into something just short of deity. Considering who he is and where he came from, is it really fair for us to judge him, his personal life, or private demeanor at that high a standard? Can you or your family personally match the standard that society now holds him to?

Although “N” bombs were dropped like pine needles from a January Christmas tree, the bulk of the tirade explained that the occasionally used “N” word is not meant in a malicious manner. A persons race on it’s own isn’t an issue with him. If the family’s use of the word was disclosed and taken out of context, it could give a misperception of deep underlying racism. If one examines Mr. Chapman’s past and present lifestyle and relationships, the contrary would be quite obvious. This begs the question;

Are there differing levels of specific derogatory racial and ethnic stereotypes that can be verbally identified without a person being a stone cold racist and bigot to the core? Are there non hateful uses of hateful words?

This was a private conversation. I am well aware of the fact that once any aspect of a public figures private life is exposed, it becomes public record and is fair game. I’m not condoning his words, but last time I checked, this was America and we have a First Amendment Freedom of speech and thought, and not just that which is deemed publicly acceptable by the great overlords of moral conscience. Where is the line drawn? Do we start tapping phones to scan for use of the “N” word and have S.W.A.T. teams kick down the doors of suspected racists? Do we need to start buying “N” word slip of the lip insurance?

As repulsive as the verbiage is, the manner in which it was disclosed is equally as bad. No one likes a snitch. The family I was raised in taught me that blood was thicker than water. Yes, there are girls in my past that I severed relationships with for the sole reason that members of my family disapproved. Chapman Jr.’s actions smack of a spoiled brat having a temper tantrum. “Waaah, I want my way or I’ll hold my breath till I turn blue.” Do you think Jr. and his true love are gonna be invited to Thanksgiving dinner? Are they still on the Christmas card list?

On a scale of one to ten, how stupid is Jr. going to feel when this girl dumps him because he is no longer famous, no longer employed, and is putting a negative spotlight of fame around her?

It’s so cliche’ it’s laughable but one of the first people the “Dog” contacted was Al Sharpton. Is there a point approaching where we declare the Reverend as a national resource? Do we provide him with a Secret Service detail, and pay him a percentage of the gross national product for supplanting himself as the Moral conscience of America? My goodness, without him who would white folks be able to grovel to for forgiveness?

If I sound callous, I apologize. I do not condone the slobber that drooled out of the “Dog’s” mouth. On the other hand, if you sit next to a statue and a pigeon poops on your head, don’t blame the bird! I am just trying to identify some discussable topics other than the damned “N” word in itself…

So, as my friend and I are watching this story unfold and I turn to ask him what he thinks. Is Chapman a racist? Should he have lost his show?

“Naw man, that’s a private call… we aren’t even supposed to hear that s***. Besides, with this female involved…man you don’t know what she’s up to.”

So I ask him, “Yeah, but with all those “n” bombs, do you think he’s a racist?”

He shook his head and gave me a look like I was a moron then said, “You just heard him say he didn’t care about her being black, and they just said he had a bunch of black friends… he didn’t intend it that way… It wasn’t that bad… I’m gonna take his word for it.”

I then asked, “So the “N” word flyin’ around like that isn’t an issue to you?” He replied, “Not unless you mean for it to be hurtful …naw, I could care less.”

Being the smartass that I am, I asked him, ” So, if I’m not hurtful about it, you don’t mind my calling you “N”?

He smiled and looked up at me and snapped off, “Go ahead, I’ll call you a honky…or cracker…”

“Oh no you won’t” I interrupted, “Us white folks have domain over those words… you get to use the “N” word… If you say them I’ll call Al Sharpton on you.”

We both chuckled about it for a second or two then flipped the channel from the News to Ninja Warriors… AND THAT’S HOW WE ARE SUPPOSED TO GET ALONG!